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In the last yen years, astronomers have discovered scads of strange exploding stars, one-offs that may point to new and unusual physics.Supernova (SN) 2005E, discovered five years ago by the University of California, Berkeley's Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT), is one of eight known "calcium-rich supernovae" that seem to stand out from the rest.

By studying receptors in the brain, researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institute have managed to show that the dopamine system in healthy, highly creative people is similar in some respects to that seen in people with schizophrenia.High creative skills have been shown to be somewhat more common in people who have mental illness in the family. Creativity is also linked to a slightly higher risk of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Certain psychological traits, such as the ability to make unusual pr bizarre associations are also shared by schizophrenics and healthy, highly creative people. And now the correlation between creativity and mental health has scientific backing.

The plant eating dinosaur Azendohsaurus is not actually a dinosaur, only a distant relative, according to a new analysis of A. madagaskarensis based on the entire skull rather than on just the teeth and jaw. Many aspects of Azendohsaurus are far more primitive than previously assumed, which in turn means that its plant-eating adaptations, similar to those of some early dinosaurs, were developed independently. The new analysis is published in Paleontology.

Grazinglands represent one of the largest land resources in the world, and they also serve as greenhouse gas sinks, taking gases like methane and nitrous oxide out of the atmosphere. A team of scientists lead by Mark Liebig at the USDA-ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory estimated net global warming potential for three grazing management systems located in central North Dakota. The grazing management systems represented two native vegetation pastures under medium and high grazing pasture management, and a heavily grazed seeded crested wheatgrass pasture receiving supplemental nitrogen.

A new study has found an association between hearing loss and the use of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. The findings, published in Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, suggest a potential for long-term hearing loss following use of Viagra, and possibly following use of other phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE-5i) drugs such as Cialis and Levitra, although results on those drugs are inconclusive.

Researchers writing in BMC Immunology suggest that the end of smallpox vaccination in the mid-20th century may have caused a loss of protection that contributed to the rapid contemporary spread of HIV.A team led by Raymond Weinstein, researcher at George Mason University, looked at the ability of white blood cells taken from people recently immunized with vaccinia to support HIV replication compared to unvaccinated controls. They found significantly lower viral replication in blood cells from vaccinated individuals. Weinstein said, "There have been several proposed explanations for the rapid spread of HIV in Africa, including wars, the reuse of unsterilized needles and the contamination of early batches of polio vaccine.

Scientists at the University of Miami say Greenland's ice is melting so quickly that the land underneath is rising at an accelerated pace.According to the study, some coastal areas are going up by nearly one inch per year and if current trends continue, that number could accelerate to as much as two inches per year by 2025, explains Tim Dixon, professor of geophysics at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) and principal investigator of the study.

People who focus too much on how they will achieve a goal are more likely to fail than individuals who think abstractly about why they want to do something. Researchers from The University of Delaware and the University of Florida found this to be case among people trying to lose weight or save money.Results of their study were published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The authors found that when people focus on concrete aspects of how they want to achieve goals, they become more closed-minded and less likely to take advantage of opportunities that fall outside their plans. And, in contrast, people who focus on the why are more likely to consider out-of-plan opportunities to achieve their goals.

What is the volume of the world's oceans? 1.332 billion cubic kilometers, according to scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.The researchers report that the world's total ocean volume is less than the most recent estimates by a volume equivalent to about five times the Gulf of Mexico, or about 0.3% lower than the estimates of 30 years ago.The results reveal how accurate scientists were in the past, using cruder techniques to measure ocean depth. As long ago as 1888, for example, John Murray dangled lead weights from a rope off a ship to calculate an ocean volume—the product of ocean area and mean ocean depth—just 1.2% greater than the new figure reported in Oceanography.

Using NASA satellite data and Google Earth, a Purdue University researcher has found evidence that North Korea is logging in the Mount Paekdu Biosphere Reserve, a 326,000-acre forest designated by the United Nations as a protected forest preserve. Mount Paekdu - together with an adjacent biosphere in China - has the world's highest plant biodiversity in a cool, temperate zone and is the habitat for many wildlife species, including the endangered Siberian tiger.Since many researchers are unable to visit North Korea, the research was conducted using remote sensing data. Results were published in Biological Conservation.

Newborns learn during sleep, say the authors of a new study in the Proceedings in The National Academy of Sciences. The findings reveal valuable information about how newborns are able to learn so quickly from their environment, researchers say.The study could also lead to identifying those at risk for developmental disorders such as autism and dyslexia."We found a basic form of learning in sleeping newborns, a type of learning that may not be seen in sleeping adults," said Dana Byrd, a research affiliate in psychology at the University of Florida.

Why do we get intense desires to eat certain foods? A pair of psychologists from Flinders University, Australia, say they may know. The team authored a review of the literature on food cravings and found that mental imagery may be a key component of food cravings — when people crave a specific food, they have vivid images of that food. The review was published in Current Directions in Psychological Science.